History VideoGame / TorinsPassage

''Torin's Passage'' is a somewhat obscure AdventureGame released by SierraOnLine in 1995 and created by Al Lowe, [[HeAlsoDid who is best known]] as the creator of the ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series of adult games. After seeing Film/MrsDoubtfire and noticing the audience in the movie theater, young and old, were laughing in different places, Lowe wanted to create a more family-friendly game, and thus ''Torin's Passage'' was born.

''Torin's Passage'' is a somewhat obscure AdventureGame released by SierraOnLine in 1995 and created by Al Lowe, [[HeAlsoDid who is best known]] as the creator of the ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' series of adult games. Lowe wanted to create a more family-friendly game, and thus ''Torin's Passage'' was born.

* EasterEgg: Making a certain [[TooDumbToLive fatally stupid]] choice at the very end of the game earns you a personal message from Al Lowe, who is pleased to see that someone shares his sense of humor.

* CaptainErsatz: [[BugsBunny Bags Bunny]].

* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The guardsman warns Torin that "the Lands Below are full of nutsos. Malcontents. Psychos! [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking ''Politicians.'']]"

* HeAlsoDid: Would you believe that one of the main people behind this game was known for his work on ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry''?

* LameRhymeDodge: The Queen of the Escarpa, Di, often quips sarcastically and harshly to her husband Rupert. Each time, the king assumes he has misheard his wife and asks her to speak up (this time with his full attention on her), to which she replies in a softer and more supportive manner in a manner that rhymes with her previous quip. He instantly believes her ALMOST every time.

* LameRhymeDodge: The Queen of the Escarpa, Di, often quips sarcastically and harshly to her husband Rupert. Each time, the king assumes he has misheard his wife and asks her to speak up (this time with his full attention on her), to which she replies in a softer and more supportive manner in a manner that rhymes with her previous quip. He instantly believes her each time.

--> '''King Rupert: Di, my dear? Why don't you give this boy (Torin) a piece of your jewelry? That way, Leena (their missing daughter whom they wish Torin to find) will know that he represents us?
--> '''Queen Di: (Sullen voice) Oh brother, aren't you right in his pocket?
--> '''King Rupert: What was that?
--> '''Queen Di: (Chipper supportive voice) I said, "Tell her, mother send her this locket."
--> '''King Rupert: Oh yes. Good idea!

* LameRhymeDodge: The Queen of the Escarpa often quips sarcastically and harshly to her husband. Each time, her husband assumes he has misheard his wife and asks her to speak up with his full attention on her, to which she replies in a softer and more supportive manner in a manner that rhymes with her previous quip.

* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The guardsman warns Torin that "the Lands Below are full of nutsos. Malcontents. Psychos! ''Politicians.''"

* ShoutOut: Yes, that is [[SailorMoon Sailor Saturn]] at the end portion of the game. You probably recognized [[StarWars Darth Vader and Yoda]] without our help.

* AntiVillain: [[spoiler: Lycentia, once you find out her story, which is gradually revealed through cutscenes]].
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: The princess of the world Escarpa is well-known for her hideous deformities, which attracted a lot of teasing in her youth. [[spoiler:On the other hand, by human standards she's incredibly hot.]]

* TheBrute: Dreep, Lycentia's pet/minion. He's a big blue furry ogre with nothing on his mind but loyalty and appetite.
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: [[spoiler:Leenah]] looks nothing like her birth parents, which made her a bit of a [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer social pariah]] growing up. [[spoiler: It's implied that the queen had an affair with someone from the Lands Above.]]

* WeirdnessCensor: The first thing Torin's dad does after [[spoiler:being released from his magical CrystalPrison]] is demand that Torin finish his chores.

* MagicallyBindingContract: Lycentia cannot return to the Lands Above, lest the magical collar around her neck choke her to death Which it almost does anyway. All that weight she put on in the intervening years probably doesn't help...

* MagicallyBindingContract: Lycentia cannot return to the Lands Above, lest the magical collar around her neck choke her to death.

* EasterEgg: In the last area, [[spoiler: use the bagpipe instead of the magic book on Lycentia. Instead of having the death message read to you, the director will tell you [[WhatAnIdiot how amazingly stupid]] it was of you to do that.]]

* [[MiscarriageOfJustice Miscarriage of]] JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: [[spoiler: Lycentia was trying to save Torin from Pecand, and is wrongfully accused of murdering the royal couple. The judge couldn't find enough evidence to convict her of murder, but he had quite enough to convict her of kidnapping Torin.]]

* MiscarriageOfJustice: [[spoiler: Lycentia was trying to save Torin from Pecand, and is wrongfully accused of kidnapping him and banished to the Lands Below before the story begins]].

* MiscarriageOfJustice: [[spoiler: Lycentia was trying to save Torin from Pecand, and is wrongfully accused of murder and banished to the Lands Below before the story begins]].

* CurbStormBattle: Torin vs. [[spoiler:Pecand]]. Right until the latter stops trying to outfight an athletic guy a third his age, and opts for something trickier.

* FlatCharacter: Arguably Torin's parents, the Fahrmans. The first thing Mr. Fahrman does after [[spoiler:being released from his

* FelonyMisdemeanor: Step on a daisy in Tenebrous, and you're looking at five to ten. Justified in that, while Torin is from the lush Lands Above, Tenebrous lies inside a [[LethalLavaLand magma-spouting death planet]] four layers down. So flora are understandably rare.

** In a later puzzle, you have to climb a [[{{Pun}} slippery slope]] by clicking on the safe spots. The grass tells you if you're hovering over the right spot, but it's ''still'' very easy to miss the safe areas. The worst part would be the audio clues. Apparently, grass can't play Hot and Cold, so it just pipes out various [[MostAnnoyingSound incredibly irritating]] of "yes" or "no".

The plot centers around Torin, the son of farmers living on the planet of Strata, which is comprised of different [[LayeredWorld nested worlds]], each one below the other. Torin lives on the surface of Strata, but when his parents are kidnapped by the sorceress Lycentia, Torin must journey to the "Lands Below" in order to rescue them.

** When you have to [[PixelHunt find that damn wrench]], the in-game hint mentions that there's a gleaming object somewhere on the screen. That's it. No suggestion as to ''where'' on the screen, naturally. Oh, and the "screen" in question is, in fact, multiple screens -- but [[FromACertainPointOfView only one in-game area]]. You know, in case you weren't confused enough already.

* LayeredWorld: the entire planet of Strata is a series of Russian-doll like worlds.
* {{Lilliputians}}: The inhabitants of the third layer down of Strata.
* LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: To open the portal out of Asthenia.
* ListingTheFormsOfDegenerates: The crystal keeper says the following line: "The Lands Below are full of nutsos! Malcontents! Psychos! Politicians!"
* ManipulativeEditing: Third to last puzzle in the game. Luckily, the recording in question is broken up for you, so you don't need to think ''too'' hard about what you can make with it.
* MagicallyBindingContract: Lycentia cannot return to the Lands Above or the magical collar around her neck will choke her to death.

* NonHumanSidekick: Boogle.
* OverlyLongScream: Torin, when he falls down into Tenebrous.
* PixelHunt: There's one screen on which you have to find a wrench in order to solve a puzzle. The wrench is invisible, except for a gleam every several seconds that's only a few pixels in size.
-->See that wrench? Neither did we. For ''three hours''.
:: In another screen you have to climb a [[{{Pun}} slippery slope]] by clicking on the safe spots. The grass tells you if you're hovering over the right spot, but it's ''still'' very easy to miss the safe area is so small. The worst part would be the audio clues. Apparently, grass can't play Hot and Cold, so it just says "yes" or "no". No, wait, that would be an improvement over the reality, in which it says [[MostAnnoyingSound "YAY" "NO WAY" "NUH-UH"]] and other such things that you have about a fifty-fifty shot of mistaking for meaning the exact opposite of what they really are.

-->'''Torin''': Boogle! You mean this whole time you could've walked right out on that bog!?!

-->'''Torin''': "Only when it's funny" huh? [[IGotYourXRightHere I'll "only when it's funny" YOU!]]
* SceneryPorn - Some of the environments in this game are absolutely gorgeous, and it owes a lot to the art direction.
* ShoutOut - Yes, that is [[SailorMoon Sailor Saturn]] at the end portion of the game. You probably recognized [[StarWars Darth Vader and Yoda]] without our help.
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: [[spoiler: Leenah looks ''nothing'' like her birth parents.]]
** [[spoiler: It's implied that the queen had an affair with someone from the Land Above.]]

* WickedWitch: Lycentia

''Torin's Passage'' is a somewhat obscure AdventureGame released by SierraOnLine in 1995 and created by Al Lowe, [[HeAlsoDid who is best known]] as the creator of the ''LeisureSuitLarry'' series of adult games. Lowe wanted to create a more family-friendly game, and thus ''Torin's Passage'' was born.

* HeAlsoDid: Would you believe that one of the main people behind this game was known for his work on ''LeisureSuitLarry''?